Flat knitting machine



March 28, 1944.

M. NEBEL FLAT KNITTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 15, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet l ,ZhvenZ-o-i: MAI NEBEL March 23,, 1944. I M. NEBEL.

FLAT KNITTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 15, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 I In 9/ a QB 36 #1 A r I I @Tflm A F o A can 5 l3. AJ

r Am A r Jig 4| M J fi E. 4 EL ET? Q j mwemm MAI NEBEL AHWM W March 28, 1944. NEBEL 2,345,064

FLAT KNITTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 13, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 v1 fin l beg March 28, 1944. M. NEBEL, zmww FLAT KNITTING MACHINE I Filed Nov. 13, 1941 4 SheetsSheet 4 a3 0 r a 7 k 5 5.2 37

Patented Mar. 28, 1944 FLAT m'r'rmo MACHINE i Max Nobel, Chemnitz, Germany; vested in the Alien Property Custodian Application November 13, 1941, Serial No. 418,869

In Germany August 10, 1937 10 Claims. (Cl. 66'91) This invention which constitutes a continuation in part of my co-pending application Ser. No. 241,255, filed November 18, 1938, relates to a flat knitting machine for knitting plush fabric and more particularly to that type 01' machine having a bed of united spring beard needles and sinkers movable at right angles thereto for the purpose of sinking loops about the shanks of the needles, the sinkers being provided with vertically spaced throats open in front. Two separate threads are fed, one to the lower throat and the other to the upper throat which is termed the plush throat and which sinks longer loops about the needle shanks than does the lower throat. These longer loops are termed plush loops.

The machine is provided with two types of sinkers; jack sinkers which are advanced seriatim to sink the threads about the needle shanks as the yarn is fed thereto, and dividing sinkers which alternate with said jack sinkers and which are advanced en masse to divide the thread previously sunk by the jack sinkers equally among the needles. common to use horizontal separator members which were moved between the plush threadand ground thread to hold the two threads vertically separated during formation of the loops.

It is the object of my invention to avoid the use of said separators by modifying the needle and sinker movement.

One modification for accomplishing this result is shown in the accompanying drawing and described below. In the drawings:

Figure l is a sectional side elevation of the fiat knitting machine according to the invention:

Fig. 1a is a sectional detail view of the mechanism for controlling the vertical motion of the needle bar;

Fig. lb is a sectional detail view of the mechanism fdr controlling the horizontal motion 01' the needle bar; I

Fig. 1c is a sectional detail view of the mechanism for controlling the forward and return motion of the facing bar;

Fig. id is a sectional detail view of the mechanism for controlling the motion of the knocking-over comb;

Fig. 2, a top view of the position of the ground ing operation;

In the prior art machines it was- Fig. 3, a front view of the position of the ground enlarged scale in four diflerent essential positions seen from the side; and

Fig. 8 is a front view of the positions of several sinkers and needles as shown in Fig. 5. The plush thread guides 3|, 3! and the ground thread guides 33, 34 are so arranged that the guides 3|, 32 deliver their plush thread just below the upper edge 01 the jack sinkers 35 and the guides 33, 34 their ground thread barely above the upper edge of the dividing sinkers 36. The arrangement 01' the thread guides and their drive are well known and need not be described in detail. The arrangement is shown in Fig. 1 which indicates in profile the set of four thread guides 3|, 32, 33,- 34 disposed on rails 5|, 52, 53, 54 in a guide 55. Displacement of the carriage 56 causes those thread guides that are to operate to be driven so that they properly place their thread in front of the sinkers.

In Figs. 2 to 8 it is assumed that the thread guides 3| and 33 are laying threads, the guide 3| positioning the plush thread 3 and the guide 33 the ground thread I. The other two thread guides 32, 34 are not visible in the figures, since they are assumed not to deliver thread and for this reason remain at the edge, as they are not passed over the row of sinkers.

The jack sinkers 35 possess two throats 35b and 350 which lies above and in front of the throat 35b. The throat 35a has a vertical or only slightly forwardly inclined lower edge. The upper throat 35a is the plush throat and the lower throat 35b the ground thread throat.

The dividing sinkers 36 are fitted with only one ground thread throat 36b, and their upper edge 360 is located Just below the plush throat 35a of the jack sinkers.

Both sinkers are disposed in known manner in slots of the sinker head 31 in such manner that they can be moved to and fro.

The jack sinkers 35 receive their sinking motion through the medium of the jacks 51 movably disposed about the member 82. The swinging motion or the jacks 51 is brought about by a curve of the slur 58 arranged in a carriage 56 in which it is moved to and fro on the path 60. Owing to the displacement of the slur 58 in the longitudinal direction of the machine the Jacks 51 are successively moved against the rear edge of the jack sinkers 35 and advance these'sinkers one after the other. This is well known, so that'it will not be necessary to show and. describe the manner of producing this to and fro motion of the slur 58.

Figs. .4 to 7 show the loop forming tools on an 63 The dividing sinkers 36 act only after all jack sinkers have been advanced, i. e., when the entire row of jack sinker loops has been sunk, and are advanced all at once. For this purpose, the bar 6| of the facing bar 6Ia, by abutting against the upwardly directed projection 36g of the dividing sinkers 39, pushes all dividing sinkers 36 in front of it. The Jack sinkers 35 also have an upwardly directed projection 359 which, however,

is not as long as'the projection 36g of the dividing sinkers 36, so that at the advance of the facing bar 6Ia jack sinkers 35 cannot be engaged.

The jack sinkers 35 and the dividing sinkers 36 are jointly withdrawn, which is also effected by the facing bar 6Ia which possesses in front a downwardly directed edge 6Ib. Ifi-ithe sinkers are to be drawn back, the facing bar 6Ia is lowered to such an extent that its front edge 6Ib engages the front edges of the upwardly directed projections 35g and 38g of the sinkers,- whereupon the facing bar 6Ia moves back again, so that all sinkers are carried along. This manner of moving the dividing sinkers and of withdrawing all sinkers is known also.

The facing-bar 6Ia is lowered in exactly the same way as in prior art machines, but the forward motion of the dividing sinkers and the withdrawal motion of all sinkers are modified in my machine. Forward and return motion isimparted to the facing bar by a two-armed lever 90 disposed on a shaft 9| (Fig. 1c). The upper arm of the lever 90 is articulated to the rearwardly extending arm 6Ic of the facing bar Ma, and the lower arm thereof is provided with a roll 92 which abuts against a disc cam 93 secured to an eccentric shaft 90. The to and fro motion of the facing bar 6Ia as well as its stoppageare controlled by the rotation and shape of the cam 93.

The frame needles 39 are held in the bar 95 in known manner. The bar 95 is flexibly supported by an arm 13d of several double-armed levers which are secured to a shaft I2 and whose other arm I3 abuts by means of a roll 96 against a disc cam II. This arrangement is known of course. The shape of the cam 'II is normal, and the needle bar 95 and therefore the frame needles 39 .perform the normal up and down motion (Fig. la). The frame needles 39 carry out, however, also a horizontal forward and return motion (Fig. 1b).which is ,made possible by the flexible connection of the bar 95 at I9 with the lever arm 13a and the attachment of a lever arm 11 to the bar. To this lever arm I1 a. lever I6 is articulated which is hung on the pin 91 of the lever 15 secured to a shaft I4 and, by means of the roll 99 rotatably disposed at the lower end thereof, subjected to the action of a disc cam 19 which like the disc cams 93 and II is attached to the eccentric shaft 96. The disc cam 19 has a shape differing from that of the known cams, since in the machine according to the invention the horizontal motion of the frame needles toward and fro the presser members is eliminated, and only t e other horizontal motions of the frame needles 39 remain.

The flat knitting machine according to the invention is not equipped with a press of known type which is firmly arranged on the sinker head, but possesses a presser comb 99 positioned in front of the sinker head 31 and fitted with presser teeth".- The presser comb 99 is secured to theknocking over comb bar I which supports the knocking over sinkers 40, and the teeth 30 of the presser comb 99 extend be ween the sinkers 40. The presser comb 99, together with the knocking over comb, carries out a horizontal forward and return motion which replaces the omitted horizontal pressing motion of the needles. This pressing motion of the comb 99 and of the knocking over sinkers 00 is produced as follows:

The knocking over comb bar I00 has downwardly extending arms I02 to the lower end of which a link I03 is attached which'is connected to a double-armed lever I00 whose lower arm is provided with a link I05 connected with a single lever I06. The double-armed lever I04 is placed on a shaft I01 and the single lever I06 on a shaft 12 (Fig. 1d). The single lever I06 is. provided at its lower end with a roll I09 which is subjected to the action of a disc cam I09 secured to the eccentric shaft 94.

The cam I09 is so shaped that the presser 20 teeth 38, according to the invention, carry out individual forward and return motions with respect to the needles and close the beards of the frame needles, so that the old loops on the frame needles may be cast off as meshes over the newly formed loops. This relative pressing motion between the frame needles and the presser edges is known, but according to the invention this pressing motion is performed not by the frame needles but by presser tools having the form of presser comb 99 fitted with teeth 38. The fact that the knocking over sinkers cooperate in the motion of the presser comb 99 has no influence upon the mode of opera,- tion of the machine.

35 The operation of the machine will now be described. By moving along the row of sinkers the thread guides 3|, 33 place their plush thread I and their ground thread 3 before the plush throat 35a and the ground thread throat 35b of the jack 0 sinkers and while doing so are somewhat in ad- Vance of the successively advancing Jack sinkers 35, or, in other words, each thread guide has passed already a jack sinker before the latter begins to advance for sinking. The advance of the ground thread guide 33 is normal but that of the plush thread guide 3| shorter than usual, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3 which illustrate the position of the thread guides and of the threads after a number of loops has been sunk.

Fig. 4 shows the position of thetools after all loops have been sunk seen from the side whilst Figs. 2 and 3 show this position, respectively, from above and the front. The advance motion of the jack sinkers for sinking purposes is normal, and the slur carriage effecting this motion does not differ in the tempo of its to and fro motion along-the rail from that prevailing in prior art machines.

According to Fig. 4. the advance of the dividing sinkers 36 has begun already, as usual, so as to enable the point 30d positioned above the dividing sinker and the ground thread throat 30b to enter below the groove 39a between ,the frame needles 39. when the nose 33d is located between the needles, the sinkers remain in a position at which the throat 30b cannot act as yet upon the ground thread. The actual dividing motion when the ground thread thrcatlib begins to push the ground thread between and 5, the frame needles 30 'have descended to such through the frame needles to form loops occurs a later than usual, 1. e., when. as indicated in Fig.

an extent that the plush thread I sunk already 7 of the frame needles 30.

Fig. shows the actual beginning of the dividing operation, i. e., the moment when the throat 36b of the dividing sinker begins to act upon the thread I which has previously been sunk by the jack sinkers in their ground thread throat 35b to form loops 42. The frame needles 39 carry out the normal downward motion, and the cam 'II bringing about this motion is of regular shape. During this period the presser teeth 38 stand back so as not to interfere with the needles 39. The disc cam I09 controlling the motion of the teeth 38 rolls with its circular portion over the rolls I08, so that the lever mechanism I06, I05, I04, I03, I02 transmitting the motion and thus also the knocking over comb bar I03 and the presser comb 99 stand still in their extreme rearward position, as indicated in Figs. 4 and 5.

Fig. 6 shows the completion of, the dividing operation for the ground thread. At this time the presser teeth 38, owing to corresponding elevations of the disc cam I09, .have moved up to the still farther descending frame needles 39 and closed the needle hook in consequence whereof the old meshes IIO on the top edge of the knocking over combs 40, during farther downward motion of the frame needles 39, can be cast off from the frame needles over the hook and the newly formed loops.

While the ground thread I is divided to form .loops 42 the dividing sinkers 36 have not acted upon the plush thread 3 which still is sunkonly to form loops H and hangs between the needle hook and the throat 35a of the jack sinker. As during dividing of the ground thread I the jack sinkers 35 are somewhat drawn back for the reason that the divided loops 42 are made shorter than the sunk loops H, the sunk plush thread loops 4I suspended between the needle hook and the throat 35a are of course loosened. In order to make sure that the plush thread is placed in the hook in spite of this loosening and to prevent it from being pierced by the point of the hook or even remaining outside the latter and dropping from the needle, thedividing operation as stated and shown in Fig. 5 begins only when the needle is so far down that the plush thread is in the hook. This loosening of the sunk plush thread loops M is indicated by the wavy appearance of the loop 4| in Fig. 6.

During the pressing operation shown in Fig. 6 the frame needles 39 move farther downwardly at ordinary speed and divide the plush thread 3, sunk into loops H, on the upper edge 360 of the dividing sinker to form loops Ma. The sunk loops H are thereby made shorter and slide downwardly out of the throat 35a, for which purpose the lower edge of the throat 35a extends in vertical direction or is only slightly forwardly inclined. During the farther descent of the frame needles and the dividing of the loops 4! the old meshes IIII are landed on the closed needle hook and the presser teeth 38, due to a. corresponding shape of the disc cam I09, moveagain from the needle and back into their initial position as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. This position of the sinkers and frame needles after completion of the dividing of the plush thread 3 is shown in Fig. 8 as seen from the front.

Only after these operations, and later than usual, begins the joint return motion of the dividing and jack sinkers by withdrawing the downwardly moved facing bar BIa. This delayed beginning of the return motion of the facing bar Ila is due to a corresponding shape of the disc arm 93 which with the aid of the roll 92 and levers and 6Ic produces the horizontal motion of the bar Bla. The retarded withdrawal of the jack and dividing sinkers is possible, because the frame needles do not perform a horizontal motion during the pressing operation and therefore also not during dividing of the plush thread 3 in downward direction, so that the normal or earlier beginnin of the return motion of the sinkers is not necessary. This return motion begins only after the plush thread 3 has been divided and the simultaneously occurring pressing operation is. completed. Owing to this return motionthe sinkers withdraw from the sunk and divided loops and release them for casting oil.

I claim:

1. In a, flat knitting machine, a needle bar, frame needles firmly arranged in said bar, thread guides for supplying ground. thread and plush thread to the needles, jack sinkers having a throat for the ground thread and. above and in front thereof, a throat for the plush thread for sinking the plush thread and forming loops therefrom that are longer than the ordinary loops from the ground thread, dividing sinkers whose upper edge lies below the throat of the jack sinkers and each of which has a throat for the ground thread for dividing the ground thread in forward direction and a nib located above said throat for the ground thread, presser tools that are horizontally movable to and fro and means for moving said parts, said thread guide for the ground thread terminating just above the upper edge of the dividing sinkers and said guide for horizontal pressing motion but otherwise performing its normal motion, particularly in upward and downward direction, said jack sinkers carrying out the normal forward motion for the sinking operation, said dividing sinkers retarding the dividing operation and beginning with it only when theplush thread is engaged by the needle hooks which thread, by the downward motion of said needle bar, is divided by the needles on the upper edge of the dividing sinkers while said presser tools horizontally move up to the needles arid close the hooks thereof, whereupon after completion of the pressing operation and of the downward dividing of the plush thread the return motion of the jack and dividing sinkers begins and the loops formed from the ground and plush threads are released for the knocking over operation. I

2. Flat knitting machine according to claim 1, in which the dividing sinkers are advanced between the frame needles so that th nibs above their ground thread throats enter between the needle shanks below the needle grooves and the dividing sinkers are pushed with their points between the needles only to such an extent that dividing of the ground thread does not begin as yet, and means for producing this motion.

3. Flat knitt ng machine according to claim 1, in which the dividing singers'are advanced between the frame needles so that the nibs above their ground thread throat enter between the needle shanks below the needle grooves and the dividing sinkers are pushed with their points between the needles only to such an extent that dividing of the ground thread does not begin as yet, and means for producing the motion of the needle bar, facing bar and presser comb, said means including rotary disc cams connected by levers with said parts and shaped so that at each phase of the mesh-forming process the frame needles, the jack and dividing sinkers and the presser teeth are moved in timed relation. 1

4. In a flat knitting machine, a needle bar, frame needles in the bar, a thread guidefor supplying ground thread, and another thread guide for supplying plus thread, to the needles, jack sinkers having a throat for the ground thread and, above and in front thereof, a throat for the plush thread for sinking the ground thread and the plush thread in forward direction and forming loops from the latter that are longer than the loops from the ground thread, dividing sinkers whose upper edge lies below the plush throat of the jack sinkers and which engages the ground thread only, said dividing sinkers having each a throat for the ground thread and a nib located above said throat for dividing the ground thread, said thread guide for supplying ground thread terminating just above the upper edge of the dividing sinkers and said guide for supplying plush thread terminating just below the upper edge of the jack sinkers, means for moving the needle bar with respect to the dividing sinkers so that said nib passes between and through the plush and ground threads sunk at different levels,

means for obviating the necessity of a horizontal motion of the needle bar relative to the press, said driving sinkers beginning later than usual with the distribution of the ground thread loops so that the plush thread loop is engaged by the hook of each needle at the moment the ground thread loops are divided, and means for moving the needle bar with respectto the dividing sinkers so that"the plush thread-is divided in downward direction only.

5. In a flat knitting machine, a needle bar, frame needles in the bar, a thread guide for upplying ground thread, and another thread guide for supplying plush thread, to the needles, jack sinkers having a throat for the ground thread, and, above and in front thereof, a throat for the plush thread for sinking the ground thread and the plush thread in forward direction and forming loops from the latter that are longer than the loops from the ground thread, dividing sinkers whose upper edge lies below the push throat of the jack sinkers and which engages the ground thread only, said dividing sinkers having each a throat for the ground thread and a nib located above said throat for dividing the ground thread, said thread guide for supplying ground thread terminating just above the upper edge of the dividing sinkers and said guide for supplying plush thread terminating just below the upper edge of the jack sinkers, means for moving the needle bar with respect to the dividing sinkers so that the point of said nib enters the needle row below the needle groove, means for moving the needle bar with respect to the dividing sinkers so that said nib passes between and through the plush and ground thread sunk at different levels, means for obviating the necessity of a horizontal motion of the needle bar relative to the press, said dividing sinkers beginning later than usual with the distribution of the ground thread loops so that the plush thread loop is engaged by the hook of each needi at the moment the ground thread loops are divided, and means for moving the needle bar with respect to the dividing sinkers so that the plush thread is divided in downward direction only by the downward movement of the needles.

6. In a flat knitting machine according to claim5 wherein the return motion of the sinkers after completion of the dividing operation begins only when the pressing operation is completed and the putting-on operation is initiated.

'7. In a flat knitting machine, a needle bar, frame needles in the bar, a thread guide for supplying ground thread, and another thread guide for supplying plush thread, to the needles, jack sinkers having each a throat for the ground thread and, above and in front thereof, a

throat for the plush thread for sinking the ground and plush threads in forward direction and forming loops from the plush thread that are longer than the loops from the ground thread, dividing sinkers whose upper edge lies below the plush throat of the jack sinkers and which engages the ground thread only, said dividing sinkers having each a throat for the ground thread and a nib located above said throat for dividing the ground thread, said thread guide for supplying ground thread terminating just above the upper edge of the dividing sinkers and said guide for supplying plush thread terminating just below the upper edge of the jack sinkers, means for moving the'needle bar with respect to the dividing sinkers so that said nib passes between and through the plush and ground threads sunk at different levels, means for obviating the necessity of a horizontal motion of the needle bar relative to the press, said dividing sinkers beginning later than usual with the distribution of the ground thread loops so that the plush thread loop is engaged by the hook of each needle at the moment the ground thread loops are divided, said press carrying out a horizontal to and fro motion.

8. In a fiat knitting machine, a needle bar. frame needles in the bar, a thread guide for sup plying ground thread, and another thread guide for supplying plush thread, to the needles, jack sinkers having each athroat for the ground thread and, above and in front thereof, a throat for the plush thread for sinking the ground thread and the plush thread in forward direction and forming loops from the latter that are longer than the loops from the ground thread, dividing sinkers whose upper edge lies below the plush throat of the jack sinkers and which engages the ground thread only, said dividing sinkers having each a throat for the ground thread and a nib located above said throat for dividing the ground thread, said thread guide for supplying ground thread terminating just above the upper edge of the dividing sinkers and said guide for supplying plush thread terminating Just below the upper edge of the jack sinkers, means for moving the needle bar with respect to the dividing sinkers so that the point of said nib enters the needle row below the needle groove, means for moving the needle bar with respect to the dividing sinkers so that said nib passes between and through the plush and ground threads sunk at different levels, means for obviating the necessity of horizontal motion of the needle bar relative to the press, said dividing sinkers beginning later than usual with the distribution of the ground thread loops so that the plush thread loop is engaged by the hook of each needle at the moment the ground thread loops are divided, means for moving the needle bar with respect to the dividing sinkers so that the plush thread is divided in downward direction only, and means for causing the press to carry out a horizontal to and fro pressing motion.

9. In a flat knitting machine, a needle bar, frame needles in the bar, a thread guide for supplying ground thread, and another thread guide for supplying plush thread, to the needles, a jack sinker for each needle, with a throat for the ground thread, a throat for the plush thread,

a forwardly inclined edge extending downwardly from the throat for the plush thread, the two throats being so positioned with respect to each other that longer loops are sunk from the plush thread than from the ground thread, a dividing sinker for cooperation with each jack sinker, which dividing sinker has a throat for the ground thread, a dividing edge on the dividing sinker which is at a level not higher than the lower end of the substantially vertical edge, said needle bar being adapted for up and down movements in time with the sinking and dividing movements of the sinkers without causing it to carry out a horizontal to and fro presser motion. 25

I 10. In a flat knitting machine, a needle bar, frame needles in the bar, a thread guide for supplying ground thread, and another thread guide for supplying plush thread, to the needles, a jack sinker for each needle, with a throat for the ground thread, a throat for the plush thread, a forwardly inclined edge extending downwardly from the throat for the plush thread, the two throats being so positioned with respect to each other that longer loops are sunk from the plush thread than from the ground thread, a dividing sinker for cooperation with each jack sinker, which dividing sinker has a throat for the ground thread, a dividing edge on the dividing sinker which is at a level not higher than the lower end of the substantially vertical edge, said needle bar being adapted for up and down movement in time with the sinking and dividing movements of the sinkers without causing it to carry out a horizontal to and fro presser motion, and a press movable horizontally to and fro for each stage of the pressing operation in time with the sinking and dividing movements of the sinkers and the movements of the needles.

MAX NEBEL. 

